Articles by American writer John Neal (1793–1876) influenced the development of American literature towards cultural independence and a unique style. They were published in newspapers, magazines, and literary journals and are part of the John Neal bibliography. They include his first known published work and pieces published in the last decade of his life. The topics of these works reflect the Neal's broad interests, including women's rights, feminism, gender, race, slavery, children, education, law, politics, art, architecture, literature, drama, religion, gymnastics, civics, American history, science, phrenology, travel, language, political economy, and temperance.
Neal was one of the leading critics of his time,[1] demonstrating distrust of institutions and an affinity for self-examination and self-reliance.[2] Compared to Neal's lesser success in creative works,[3] literary historian Fred Lewis Pattee found that "his critical judgments have held. Where he condemned, time has almost without exception condemned also."[4] Editors of newspapers, magazines, and annual publications sought contributions from Neal on a wide variety of topics, particularly in the second half of the 1830s.[5] His early articles make him one of the first male advocates of women's rights and feminist causes in the United States.[6]
Neal was the first American to be published in any British literary magazine[7] and in that capacity wrote the first history of American literature[8] and American painters.[9] His early encouragement of writers John Greenleaf Whittier, Edgar Allan Poe, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Elizabeth Oakes Smith, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and many others, helped launch their careers.[10] Neal was the first American art critic,[11] and his essays from the 1820s were recognized as "prophetic" by art historian Harold E. Dickson.[12] As an early and outspoken theater critic, he drafted a future for American drama that was only partially realized sixty years later.[13]
Articles
Articles by John Neal
Title
Date
Publication type
Publication name
Topic
Notes
Ref.
"Apostasy"
April 27, 1814
Newspaper
Hallowell Gazette
Law and politics
John Neal's first published work: a political essay published when Neal was living in Hallowell, Maine, as a penmanship instructor[14]
A criticism of the poem Crystallina; a Fairy Tale, in Six Cantos by John Milton Harney, identifying what he saw as faults, possible inspirations, and evidence it is "one of the most splendid productions of the age."[23]
"Describes dueling as a gendered performance, in which women play an enabling role and which they have an obligation to stop," similar to his subsequent novel, Keep Cool[24]
Qualified praise for the poem "The Village" by Neal's friend and later Maine governor Enoch Lincoln; includes an attempted definition of poetry[25] and dismisses the expectation of including prose notes with poetry as an unnecessary British precedent[26]
A reaction to an article by Stephen Simpson in the preceding issue, itself being a reaction to Simpson's original article in the February issue; debates the distinction between passion and genius[29]
A criticism of Charles Robert Maturin's plays Bertram and Manuel that "grossly over-estimates" their value; makes clear Maturin's influence on Neal's first dramatic work, Otho[31]
Praise for the characterization in the novel series Tales of My Landlord by Walter Scott in an overall poor review dubbing the works as "overburdened with a wearisome load of laboured trash"[37]
A critique of The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell originally read by Neal before the Delphian Club April 26, 1817; republished in the Portland Tribune circa 1841; republished as "Boswell and Johnson—a Critique" in Emerson's United States Magazine November 1856
Refutes the significance of Shakespeare's character delineation and asserts the significance of the playwright's "simplicity and artlessness"; read at the Delphian Club June 20, 1818[41]
A refutation of the philosophy of Thomas Reid; contends that God's foreknowledge of the future renders humans not accountable for sin; recanted in Wandering Recollections of a Somewhat Busy Life[44]
September 26, October 3, October 17, and October 24, 1818
Magazine
The Journal of the Times
Regionalism and nationalism
Calls for recognition of US national character distinct from the UK, arguing that as a young nation, the US is more connected to its origins than older nations; calls for support of American literature; in four installments[47]
March 6, March 13, March 20, April 3, and April 9, 1819
Newspaper
Federal Republican and Baltimore Telegraph
Children and education
A series of five articles offering advice for parents of children and Neal's early feminist views; part of a discourse with articles by "The Friend of Reflection" in the same paper in the same period
Poor review of an engraving of the signing of the US Declaration of Independence; prompted a multi-issue printed debate between Neal and a writer under the pseudonym "Print-Seller"
Architectural criticism of Baltimore's public buildings, with comparison to those of Philadelphia, New York City, and Boston; condemns the use of false fronts and the Massachusetts State House for "a most savage style of disproportion and deformity"
Praise for the design of Baltimore's Washington Monument for "grand simplicity, without ornament or frippery" and for Baltimore's Battle Monument for its "elegance of design"; continued in the June 19 issue as a letter from "an American"
Argues against the constitutionality of state banks issuing banknotes a decade before the argument was made by Albert Gallatin; published in two installments
A criticism of the poem Fanny by Fitz-Greene Halleck, denouncing it as an inferior imitation of Lord Byron's Don Juan, but pronouncing of the author "as an original and a genius, he might be of the first class"[70]
Review of The Lay of a Maniac Harper, Sung over the Grave of his Mistress
August 4, 1820
Newspaper
Federal Republican and Baltimore Telegraph
Literary criticism
Critique of the poem The Lay of a Maniac Harper, Sung over the Grave of his Mistress by Grenville Mellen; praises the work as a whole but condemns something in every line
Review of Song, Composed for the Anniversary of the Landing of our Fathers
March 17, 1821
Newspaper
Federal Republican and Baltimore Telegraph
Literary criticism
Critique of the poem Song, Composed for the Anniversary of the Landing of our Fathers by Grenville Mellen rejecting a review of the work in the New England Galaxy
A criticism of the poem Sukey by William Bicker Walter, denouncing it as an imitation of Fanny by Fitz-Greene Halleck, but pronouncing that "the poet is an honour to his country"[70]
"Review of the First Annual Exhibition at Baltimore"
October 14, 16, 17, 18, 19, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, and 31, 1822
Newspaper
Morning Chronicle, Federal Republican and Baltimore Telegraph, and American and Commercial Daily Advertiser
Art criticism
Critiques every piece (approximately 200) at a Peale Museum exhibition, including works by Sarah Miriam Peale, Thomas Sully, Gilbert Stuart, and Chester Harding;[79] "the most pretentious" of Neal's Baltimore newspaper art criticism; first three installments in the Morning Chronicle, fourth in the Federal Republican and Baltimore Telegraph, and the fifth through fifteenth in the American and Commercial Daily Advertiser
Published anonymously in seven installments and signed "Remarks of an Old Brush"; "an extraordinary-for-its-day" description of the role of art critics in society and individual critiques of 253 works by 47 artists at the Peale Museum, including Sarah Miriam Peale
The European Review: or, Mind and its Productions, in Britain, France, Italy, Germany, &c.
Social criticism
Responds to the argument that diversity in race, language, and culture erodes American national character by showing how the opposite has eroded national character in European nations[88]
The first published history of American painting;[9] excerpted in Observations on American Art: Selections from the Writings of John Neal (1793–1876) (1943);[90] a critique of cultivation of fine arts in the US and a discussion of eleven American artists, including Benjamin West and John Trumbull; republished in the Columbian Observer (multiple issues beginning November 17, 1824)[91]
Purportedly a review of A Summary View of America by Isaac Candler "literally buried beneath the grasping tendrils and riotous fruitage of Neal's birthright knowledge of his native country" in a "vast panorama" conveying Neal's views on slavery and other topics in thirty-six pages that "should be read by anyone interested in the America of 1825";[98] the longest article Blackwood's had yet published;[99] includes Neal's first call for women's suffrage[100]
A defense of the works and character of Maximilian Godefroy, possibly prompted by Neal's own guilt for a derogatory reference in "A Summary View of America"[101]
"Celebration of the Landing of the Pilgrim Fathers in America"
July–September 1825
Magazine
The Oriental Herald, and Journal of General Literature
Regionalism and nationalism
A history of early British American colonization leading up to the Plymouth Colony and an account of the recent celebration of the anniversary of that colony's founding; written under an assumed English identity[102]
"Late American Books. 1. Peep at the Pilgrims; 2. Lionel Lincoln; 3. Memoirs of Charles Brockden Brown; 4. John Bull in America; 5. The Refugee; 6. North American Review, No. XLVI"
Neal's final contribution to Blackwood's; reveals that he is American and not British without revealing his name but for signing it "N."; reveals his intent in previous articles of this publication to attract British attention to the US; declares the slavery issue as capable of separating the states[105]
"Observations on the Present State of Literature in the North American Republick"
September and October 1825
Magazine
The European Magazine and London Review
Regionalism and nationalism
Published in two installments; discussion of the impediments to the US developing a distinct literature and in what ways they have already been overcome or not
"Letters from the United States of North America No. I. Habits of the People — Inconsistency — Scraps of their Speech — Master and Servant — Helps — Emigrants — Tricks in Trade"
One of a seven-part series of essays written from the perspective of an observer in America to a British reader; highlights inconsistencies in American behavior regarding slavery, democracy, social hierarchy, and trade[109]
A reply to Charles Mathews's response to "Sketches of American Character. British Authorities Examined. Mr. Mathews' Trip to America. By an American" (December 1825)
One of a seven-part series of essays written from the perspective of an observer in America to a British reader; focused on Boston's value as a city[109]
An account of Neal's departure from Baltimore, transatlantic journey, early impressions of England from late 1823 through early 1824, and contrasts between the UK and US; the most detailed account of Neal's reasons for leaving Baltimore and for relocating to London; published in three installments[113]
One of a seven-part series of essays written from the perspective of an observer in America to a British reader; "More rambling than the first two" essays in this series; praises the American Journal of Education and new American interest in education, particularly physical education; calls for measures to protect American authors from British competition; describes holiday traditions in the US with focus on Independence Day[114]
What Neal considers the defining characteristics of New EnglandYankees, compared to how Yankees are viewed by other Americans, by Europeans, and themselves; originally written as the introductory chapter of Brother Jonathan (1825);[120] republished in the Portland Tribune circa 1841[121]
One of a seven-part series of essays written from the perspective of an observer in America to a British reader; discusses treatment of Black Americans by Whites in northern and southern states; focuses on American schools; includes notice of the anticipated first edition of Webster's Dictionary[118]
One of a seven-part series of essays written from the perspective of an observer in America to a British reader; responds to misrepresentations of America by British authors[123]
January 23, January 30, February 6, February 13, March 3, March 26, April 16, April 30, June 11, June 18, June 25, July 2, August 13, September 10, November 26, and December 10, 1828
A series of articles on Jeremy Bentham-inspired utilitarianism in seven installments; February 23 includes an excerpt from The Principles of Moral and Political Philosophy by William Paley
Musings on differences between men and women, educational and economic opportunities for women in England compared to the US, ideals of beauty, female morality, marriage, and relationship between men and women in England; published in seven installments
Complains of mistreatment by others in the literary world but promises subscribers that future issues of The Yankee will show a reduction in personal grievances by Neal; includes positive comments by Mathew Carey
"Rights of Women. Review of the Mayor's Report — so far as it relates to the High School for Girls. By E. BAILEY, late Master of that School. Boston. BOWLES & DEARBORN"
Denounces "with considerable heat" Josiah Quincy III's decision to close the Boston High School for Girls[129] and attacks the legal institution of coverture;[145] includes "Neal's angriest and most assertive feminist claims"[146]
In the form of a letter and attached editorial comment demonstrating and declaring that "women are not inferior to men; but they are unlike men. They cannot do all that men may do — any more than men may do all that women may do"[151]
Criticism of the current state of American art written "with a pungency rare in nineteenth century criticism";[155] republished in American Art 1700–1960 (1965)[156]
Published in five installments; Neal's most noteworthy work of theatrical criticism;[157] calls for "a revolution that was still in progress sixty years later";[158] elaborates on points made in the prefaces to Otho (1819) and the second edition of The Battle of Niagara (1819);[159] republished in "Critical Essays and Stories by John Neal" (1962)[160]
An "early, unprecedented effort to define a canon of American art";[163] anticipates John Ruskin's Modern Painters by distinguishing between "things seen by the artist" and "things as they are";[164] a call for "straightforward realism... made at the height of the Romantic era";[165] republished in American Art 1700–1960 (1965)[156]
A review of the book Sketches of American Character by Sarah Josepha Hale praising Hale's writing but lamenting what he sees as the author being confined by societal expectations of her sex[167]
Praise for the principles of Boston lectures by Frances Wright, tempered by the assertion that they would have come across better "if spoken with more discretion"[169]
Excerpts from Edgar Allan Poe's forthcoming collection Poems and a letter in which Poe claims that Neal's September criticism was "the very first words of encouragement I ever remember to have heard"[175]
A refutation of Basil Hall's claim in Travels in North America in the Years 1827 and 1828 that women's status in the US is lower than in the UK; first of a three-part series on women in the US[176]
A review of the works at a fine arts exhibition at the Boston Athenæum similar to his "Review of the First Annual Exhibition at Baltimore" (October 1822)
Full text of Neal's speech during the six-day debate (July 8–13, 1833) with Samuel Fessenden and others over whether or not to establish a Portland auxiliary of the American Colonization Society, followed by written arguments for the colonization movement over abolitionism as a means to end slavery; published in six installments
Notices of three Portland, Maine artists over three installments: Charles Codman, Frederick Mellen (brother of Grenville Mellen), and Joseph T. Harris[189]
An essay of "considerable popularity and a good deal of republication" and "a sensible, original inquiry into the nature of children";[190] "the best John Neal has ever written" according to the New-York Mirror;[191] revised and republished in Portland Magazine (April 1, 1835), New England Galaxy (April 18, 1835),[192]Godey's Lady's Book (March 1848 and November 1849),[193] and The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings (1978);[95] excerpted in the New-York Mirror October 18, 1834;[194] excerpted as "Rustic Civility, or Children—What Are They?" in The Ladies' Companion (July 1838);[195] republished as "Children—What Are They Good For?" in Great Mysteries and Little Plagues (1870)[196]
An attack on John James Audubon in three articles, questioning his trustworthiness, honesty, and claims to writing and artwork published under Audubon's name; based in part on Neal's conversations with Joseph Mason
January 3, February 14, April 4, August 8, and August 15, 1835
Newspaper
New England Galaxy
Science
A series of five articles defending the veracity of phrenology; a lighthearted debate between himself and junior editor, Horatio Hastings Weld, and notices of lectures in Portland, Maine
January 10, February 14, February 21, February 28, April 18, November 7, November 14, and November 21, 1835
Newspaper
New England Galaxy
Social criticism
A series of eight articles denouncing health lectures by Sylvester Graham with the object "to crucify Dr. Graham... and all who resemble him"; based on Neal's attendance of Graham's lectures and conversation with Graham in Portland, Maine
January 17, January 24, January 31, February 7, and February 14, 1835
Newspaper
New England Galaxy
Science
An account of Neal's role as the first lawyer to use psychiatric testimony[203] and seek leniency in a US court on account of a defendant's alleged mental defect;[204] published in five installments; reviewed in the Annals of Phrenology (November 1835)
High praise for the poem "Stanzas" by Elizabeth Oakes Smith: "no man ever wrote anything half so beautiful or sweet"; submitted anonymously, "Stanzas" was Smith's first published writing outside uncredited work as assistant editor of the Portland Advertiser
Critique of poems "The Mediterranean," "To the Sub," and "Byron Sleeping amid the Ruins of Greece" by Anne Lynch Botta as derivative of Lord Byron but showing immense promise for Botta's future work
An attack on a money lender in Portland, Maine for predatory practices; followed by articles on the subject on August 15, August 29, September 12, October 3, and October 24, 1835; resulted in the lender making a substantial donation to a local charity
Biographical sketch of Robert Owen, as contrasted with John Dunn Hunter, based on Neal's experience with both in London;[213] republished as "Profile Sketches No I" in the New England Galaxy (October 10, 1835)
A refutation of comments about Aaron Burr in the recently published Private Journal of Aaron Burr, during his Residence of Four Years in Europe; With Selections from his Correspondence based on Neal's interactions with Jeremy Bentham concerning Burr as recorded in his translation of Principles of Legislation: from the MS of Jeremy Bentham (1830); continued over number III in the series; second in series of six articles under the same title[226]
A refutation of comments about Aaron Burr in the recently published Private Journal of Aaron Burr, during his Residence of Four Years in Europe; With Selections from his Correspondence based on Neal's interactions with Jeremy Bentham concerning Burr as recorded in his translation of Principles of Legislation: from the MS of Jeremy Bentham (1830); continued from number II in the series; third in series of six articles under the same title[226]
An affirmation of Neal's faith in phrenology, an endorsement of Isaac Ray's A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity, a defense of John Pierpont's Moral Rule of Political Action sermon (January 27, 1839), and an account of meeting Leigh Hunt in London in 1826; sixth in series of six articles under the same title[226]
An essay about ocean currents, winds, evaporation, atmospheric pressure, land elevations, sea depressions, tides, and other measurable phenomena, as well as the role of oceans in human society;[231] excerpted in The New-Yorker (October 5, 1839)[232]
A report on the border issues leading to the Aroostook War; published in two installments; republished in The New World (February 15 and March 28, 1840)
"Traits of the New-Englanders; Otherwise, The Yankees"
February 15, 1840
Magazine
The American Miscellany of Popular Tales, Essays, Sketches of Character, Poetry, and Jeux D'Esprit
Regionalism and nationalism
Description of New England character; claims the "unconquerable and inconceivable enthusiasm, and waywardness and extravagance" of New Englanders as a cause of the American Revolutionary War[237]
Argues for women's suffrage as an issue of taxation without representation; voices arguments used later in the "Rights of Woman" speech (1843); republished in The New World (March 7, 1840)
Seeks to justify the recent publication of a pamphlet by alleged con man John Bratish Eliovich and attacks the editors of The New World for refusing to publish it[248]
A short postmortem biography of Grenville Mellen, focusing on his earlier life and based on letters Neal exchanged with him;[251] published in three installments
The Family Companion and Ladies' Mirror: A Monthly Magazine of Polite Literature
Biography
A short biography of Elizabeth Oakes Smith; third biography in the "Sketches from Life" series; republished in the Portland Tribune (circa 1842) and the preface to The Sinless Child and Other Poems (1843)[253]
A biographical sketch of Aaron Burr, focusing on his moral character and alleging that he offered his daughter as a mistress to Jeremy Bentham;[259] republished in Wheler's Southern Monthly Magazine (1850)[260]
A purportedly true story of Thomas Sully being commissioned by a husband and wife unbeknownst of each other for anniversary gift portraits to the other; concludes that everyone's lives produce story-worthy material[261]
Discussions of English and French celebrities, landmarks, customs, and speech; based on Neal's travels in England and France 1824–1827; published in five installments (the fifth in the same issue as the fourth and under the title "Comforts of Travelling")
Refutes the notion in The Social Principle by William Gilmore Simms that love of money is a national sin; advocates monetary education at all levels of school
Neal's most influential statement on women's rights;[275] lecture originally delivered January 24, 1843 before 3,000 attendees at the Broadway Tabernacle;[276] "a scathing satire," according to the History of Woman Suffrage;[277] republished in The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings (1978)[95]
Responds to arguments against women's suffrage by Eliza Farnham, prompted by Neal's "Rights of Women" speech on January 24 of that year;[281] "Mrs. Farnham lived long enough to retrace her ground and accept the highest truth," according to the History of Woman Suffrage;[277] republished in The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings (1978)[95]
Concluding remarks to Eliza Farnham's second essay prompted by Neal's "Rights of Women" speech on January 24 of that year;[283] republished in The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings (1978)[95]
A recommendation of self-reliance "even to the point of vanity and conceit" tempered by a warning against boasting;[258] republished in the Portland Tribune circa 1843[266]
Accuses Martin Chuzzlewit by Charles Dickens as misrepresenting American dialects and lifestyles; insists that quotation marks are unnecessary for dialogue if properly written
Favorable review of the language instruction book French Without a Master by Alexander H. Monteith; insists that learning a new language from a book is impossible
"Moral and Spiritual Culture in Early Education. By R. C. Waterston. Boston"
December 1843
Magazine
The Indicator: A Miscellany of Self-Improvement
Children and education
Praise for Reverend Robert Cassie Waterston's "On Moral and Spiritual Culture in Early Education" lecture before the American Institute of Instruction (1836), particularly its recognition of the significance of children[297]
"Neal's most significant pronouncement" on slavery; repeats arguments made in "A Summary View of America" (1824) and "United States" (1826); argues for gradual emancipation and colonization
Mocks an argument in the National Intelligencer against women in law and politics and ridicule felt by two women attempting to establish a newspaper in New York City
Disavowal of Neal's own pamphlet Appeal from the American Press to the American People, in Behalf of John Bratish Eliovich and rejection of alleged con man John Bratish Eliovich as "an arrant scamp"
February 4, February 5, February 8, February 12, February 17, February 19, February 24, March 3, March 10, March 12 March 22, April 2, April 4, April 5, April 7, July 16, and July 26, 1845
A demonstration of the observation and imagination required to transform real commonplace experiences into literature; "one of Neal's best performances"; submitted to George Rex Graham September 20, 1843;[305] republished in The Dew-Drop: A Tribute of Affection (1852)[306]
Asserts that all are poets though few recognize it in themselves; claims poetry as a necessary refinement and embellishment of the world; marks a departure from Neal's earlier opinion of poetry as "superficial adornment" and "deliberate falsification of fact";[308] republished in "Critical Essays and Stories by John Neal" (1962)[160]
Argues that the US government should compensate owners of ships seized by Napoleonic France who suffered economically in agreements made with the French Directory
"Alehouse Politicians, or Annexation Settled For Ever"
March 1850
Magazine
Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art
Regionalism and nationalism
"A good-natured organized debate" about the governments and character of the US and UK as they concern American annexation of Canada; written to accompany an engraving; republished serially over five issues of the State of Maine (September 10, 13, 14, 15, and 16, 1853)[312]
"A Few Words about Tobacco with Some Account of the Incurables"
February 1851
Magazine
Sartain's Union Magazine of Literature and Art
Temperance
A condemnation of "tobacco in every shape, opium in every shape, alcohol in every shape, all three but different names for one and the same thing" dismissing the work of Sylvester Graham and Walter Raleigh; accompanied by a drawing[315]
The substance of a lecture Neal had been delivering for years; an attack on American lawyers as a privileged "legal oligarchy" with undue influence in politics[316]
Uplifts the value of natural diction in writing and expression of thought as it spontaneously occurs to the writer; includes an analysis of New England speech and character he saw as underrepresented in literature;[317] republished in The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings (1978)[95]
August 24, September 1, September 7, September 8, September 12, and October 14, 1853
Newspaper
State of Maine
Temperance
Expresses Neal's long support for the temperance movement but opposition to the Maine Law and wariness of its champion Neal Dow as "untrustworthy," "wilful," [sic] and "conceited"; in six installments
The Crayon: A Journal Dedicated to the Graphic Arts and the Literature Related to Them
Art criticism
Supports the claims in his June 9, 1855 submission about the Claude Lorrain and Titian paintings discovered by John Rollin Tilton in Rome; includes notes from the editor refuting Neal's claims[326]
The Crayon: A Journal Dedicated to the Graphic Arts and the Literature Related to Them
Art criticism
Supports the claims in his June 9, 1855 and August 1, 1855 submissions about the Claude Lorrain and Titian paintings discovered by John Rollin Tilton in Rome[327]
A review of Art-Hints, Architecture, Sculpture and Painting by James Jackson Jarves; argues that painting, sculpture, poetry, music, and architecture all stem from a common artistic motive[328]
"One of the most interesting essays of his career"; "an incisive piece of feminist social criticism" disguised "as a conservative critique of current fashion";[330] "the beginning of the last phase of Neal's feminist journalism"[331]
A treatise on the importance of life insurance "which was nothing more nor less than a clever piece of advertising" for the Mutual Benefit Life Insurance Company, of which Neal was the state agent[333]
Recollections from Neal's time in London 1824–1827; includes Neal's professed faith in phrenology as a legitimate science based on more than thirty years of research[334]
Two-part testimonial of the scientific soundness of phrenology and Physiognomy and of Neal's interest in the fields over more than forty years;[335] includes an account of his role as the first lawyer to use phrenological evidence in a US court[336]
A questionably true account of Neal's travels in Philadelphia and Le Havre encountering the same men in both locations that "can hardly be dignified as a story... with only a moderate degree of attention to detail"[337]
In two installments; second installment titled "Once More — What Is Education?"; criticism of narrow and dogmatic approaches in schools and universities and praise for the Hazelwood School and Round Hill School[338]
Republished in Observations on American Art: Selections from the Writings of John Neal (1793–1876) (1943);[348] based on notes from his stay in London over forty years earlier;[349] published in two installments
Commentary of proceedings of a recent women's suffrage meeting; proclaims women's influence on public opinion as no substitute for suffrage; argues for equality of partnership in marriage[355]
Refutes Horace Greeley's views on the domestic sphere of women and the historical development of sexism; advocates mixed-sex education for children[356]
A report of a women's suffrage meeting Neal organized in Portland, Maine; characterizes suffrage as a natural right already protected in the US Constitution[362]
Badin, Donatella Abbate (1969). "L'Opera Critica di John Neal". Studi Americani. 15: 7–31. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved June 5, 2024.
Dickson, Harold Edward (1943). Observations on American Art: Selections from the Writings of John Neal (1793-1876). State College, Pennsylvania: Pennsylvania State College. OCLC775870.
Fleischmann, Fritz (1983). A Right View of the Subject: Feminism in the Works of Charles Brockden Brown and John Neal. Erlangen, Germany: Verlag Palm & Enke Erlangen. ISBN978-3-7896-0147-7.
Fleischmann, Fritz (2007). "John Neal (1793–1876)". In Gardiner, Judith Kegan; Pease, Bob; Pringle, Keith; Flood, Michael (eds.). International Encyclopedia of Men and Masculinities. Vol. 2. London, England: Routledge. pp. 565–567. ISBN978-0-415-33343-6.
Fleischmann, Fritz (2012). "Chapter 12: "A Right Manly Man" in 1843: John Neal on Women's Rights and the Problem of Male Feminism". John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. pp. 247–270. In Watts & Carlson (2012).
Holt, Kerin (2012). "Chapter 9: Here, There, and Everywhere: The Elusive Regionalism of John Neal". John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. pp. 185–208. In Watts & Carlson (2012).
Lease, Benjamin; Lang, Hans-Joachim, eds. (1978). The Genius of John Neal: Selections from His Writings. Las Vegas, Nevada: Peter Lang. ISBN978-3-261-02382-7.
Meserve, Walter J. (1986). Heralds of Promise: The Drama of the American People During the Age of Jackson 1829-1849. New York, New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN978-0-313-25015-6.
McCoubrey, John W. (1965). American Art 1700–1960. Sources and Documents in the History of Art Series. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice Hall. OCLC503223.
Orestano, Francesca (2012). "Chapter 6: John Neal, the Rise of the Critick, and the Rise of American Art". John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. pp. 123–144. In Watts & Carlson (2012).
Sears, Donald A. (1987). "John Neal (25 August 1793 – 20 June 1876)". In Rathbun, John W.; Grecu, Monica M. (eds.). American Literary Critics and Scholars, 1800–1850. Dictionary of Literary Biography. Vol. 59. Detroit, Michigan: Gale Research Company. pp. 233–241.
Watts, Edward; Carlson, David J., eds. (2012). John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. Lewisburg, Pennsylvania: Bucknell University Press. ISBN978-1-61148-420-5.
Weyler, Karen A. (2012). "Chapter 11: John Neal and the Early Discourse of American Women's Rights". John Neal and Nineteenth Century American Literature and Culture. pp. 227–246. In Watts & Carlson (2012).